Jojo's eyes welled up with tears. He whimpered in his wolf form, but he tried to stay strong and dispel the thought.
'No, Daddy is very strong. He must've killed all those tigers already, and now he's recovering while searching for me!' Jojo held that belief close to his heart. His father always told him to hold onto hope, or else he would become too sad, and becoming too sad meant he would be too weak to fight.
In the end, if he was too weak to fight, he wouldn't be able to protect the ones he loved.
'But the only one I love is Daddy…' Jojo pondered. 'And I can't help him in a fight. I'm so useless…'
The four-year-old had been very diligent in learning from his father. He learned to hunt and stand on his ground. He understood early on that he had no pack, and even if his father was strong, he couldn't rely on him all the time. So he tried his best to get stronger. He even had his first hunt a few days ago. Well, it was just a squirrel, but his father praised him nonetheless.
Jojo felt even sadder as he replayed all the good memories he had with his father. His father wasn't perfect; there were times when little Jojo would throw tantrums because of his father's neglect or cry because his father scolded him so much.
But Jojo knew that his father loved him dearly, and he loved his father just as much.
'Then… What should I do if Daddy really died?'
Jojo shuddered as that question lingered in his mind. Unfortunately, he couldn't ponder it for too long because the front door was pushed open.
Jojo lifted his head and saw the human who had become a source of warmth for him last night. Her body was still covered with wounds, and she looked thin and frail. But her eyes were lively, and she had a warm smile as she quickly approached him.
"Little wolf, you've already woken up! Tell me, what do you feel right now?"
Jojo was about to open his mouth and reply, I feel better.
But then he realized he was still in his wolf form, and this human didn't seem to know he was actually a beastman. After all, there was no difference between a regular beast and a beastman once they shapeshifted into their beast form.
His father had told him once that humans were untrustworthy, and if they captured a beastman in the forest, they would sell them to other humans to be turned into slaves or pets.
Jojo didn't think this human was dangerous. Maybe because of her radiant smile, or her kind eyes.
Nevertheless, he still heeded his father's words and whimpered sadly, signaling that he was still in pain.
Sisi patted his head affectionately. "I know you must be in pain. But at least you've woken up, right? Here, I saved something for you to eat."
She placed the salted fish wrapped in paper in front of the wolf cub, and Jojo was astonished to see it.
Jojo had eaten fish once, though his father preferred to hunt deer or wild boar. It wasn't his favorite, but he was grateful, since he hadn't eaten anything since he became separated from his father.
So he barked happily without restraint. "Urf!"
"Aww, I didn't know you could bark too. So cute!" Sisi couldn't help ruffling the cub's head even harder. "Let me feed you, then. It must be hard for you to move around right now."
Jojo was shocked at his own behavior. Of course he could bark or yip, but he had never seen his father do it. His father said it was fine for a cub, but once he became an adult, he shouldn't do it much because it meant he wasn't in control of his emotions, barking was a sign of unrestrained joy or fear.
Of course, Jojo thought he was already big and mature enough, so he quickly regretted barking over a piece of fish.
Noticing that the cub looked upset after she ruffled his head too many times, Sisi decided to lift him up carefully while shredding the salted fish. She fed him bit by bit, waiting until he chewed it all.
The wolf cub seemed so hungry that he finished the entire fish by himself. Sisi took out another wrapped fish and tried to feed him again, but this time he refused.
Jojo saw that the human was very thin and frail, and her wounds hadn't been treated. He didn't want his new savior to starve while taking care of him.
So he refused to eat more and nudged the food toward her with his snout.
"Oh, for me? Well, thank you then. Do tell me if you want more, okay? I've snuck enough for you to eat for the next three days, hehe~" Sisi was in a good mood. She ate a whole fish herself, since she had only eaten hard bread in the morning. Her food was rationed by Mr. Piker as one of his tactics to wear her down, he promised her more food if she obeyed and served him in bed.
Thus, Sisi kept losing weight, but she didn't care. She could always pick wild berries at the edge of the forest if she was really hungry, or steal some eggs and boil them before dawn.
Jojo watched as the human ate the salted fish with relish. It made him wonder if the fish was actually good or if she was just hungry, because Jojo knew very well that he didn't like it. It was too salty and not fresh enough, but he was starving and didn't want to hurt his savior's feelings, so he ate it.
'Do humans eat squirrels and rabbits too? I'll try to hunt some once I get better so she can eat better food!' Jojo promised himself.